Chris Scott wrote:
"The B777 uses two of just about the most powerful engines in the business, so each engine is presumably fed by some of the largest fuel lines in service.
Strange that this very fuel plumbing may have provided the first recorded example of an engine suffering serious fuel starvation due to a major blockage caused by gradual ice accretion, despite the contents of the fuel tanks being of good quality."
Well, if you think about it, having a larger diameter pipe to allow higher flow at full power means that the effects of low power and fuel flow for long periods are exacerbated, the fuel is moving more slowly because a given volume travels more slowly through a larger diameter pipe. Hence, if this is down to ice accretion on the pipe walls, there is more time for an ice crystal passing accreted ice to stick to it.